


Life After You

by Yoyos_on_the_wharf



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 18:44:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11629617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoyos_on_the_wharf/pseuds/Yoyos_on_the_wharf
Summary: Allura asks Shiro what he wants to do once Zarkon is defeated.





	Life After You

**Author's Note:**

> Good lord, I forgot how nerve-wracking it is to post a fanfic. It's been years. Gah! 
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely toodumbtorun on tumblr.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> {Inspired by the song "Life After You" by Daughtry.}

Life After You

 

The soft  _ woosh _ of the doors was his first indication of her arrival, quickly followed by the scent that perpetually clung to her. Juniberries, she’d told him once when he made the mistake of getting too close and blurting out the question. He’d never encountered the fruit- or was it a flower? Shiro knew, however, that it would forever remain one of his favorite scents. It coiled around him in the mornings at briefings and stayed with him far into the night. 

 

Shiro looked up from the letter he was writing. He’d taken to writing a letter almost every night to someone back on earth; his parents, cousins, friends, sometimes even the other paladins’ families. Then he’d burn it before he went to bed, hoping his words would reach them. A bit whimsical for the leader of Voltron, but it helped with the homesickness. 

 

“Princess,” Shiro greeted as she came closer. A small, tired smile graced her face. Shiro was once again struck by her beauty. Beautiful wasn’t enough to describe her though, she was…  _ ethereal _ . She was like the stars spinning around them as they made their way through space- bright and powerful. Allura would fight him on it, but she was the  _ real _ head of Voltron. She kept them all together. Or at least him.

 

“I’m not interrupting you, am I?” she asked in concern, her eyes darting to the letter and back to his face, “I can leave…”

 

“No!” Shiro cleared his throat, mildly embarrassed to be caught in his childish ritual. Especially by the Princess. Flipping over the letter, he smiled up at her, “Sorry, Princess, it’s fine. Are you okay?”

 

Her eyes glimmered with momentary curiosity before she sat herself down on the couch. She tucked her feet up under her, a purely Earthen gesture that caught Shiro slightly off guard. She arranged her gauzy skirts around her before looking back at him. “I’m fine,” she smiled self-deprecatingly, “Well, as fine as one can be when fighting impossible odds,” her smile warmed, becoming more genuine ,“I just can’t sleep, I… I was thinking too much.” Shiro mirrored her smile, understanding her true meaning. 

 

Allura worried her bottom lip, another Earthen gesture that sent a spike of warmth through Shiro. “I’m all ears if you want to talk,” he offered, forcing his gaze back to her glittering eyes. He watches the range of emotions flitting through her- confusion accompanied by a blush and sadness before she cast her eyes away from him.

 

“It’s really...silly.” she whispers.

 

Shiro stretches his arms across the back of the couch before sending her a reassuring smile, “I spend most of my days with Lance, I doubt whatever you are thinking would be silly in comparison.”

 

Allura let out a girlish giggle and Shiro’s heart jumped at the sound.

 

“I suppose that’s true, he really does know how to put his foot in his mouth,” she ran a hand through her hair before relaxing into the couch a bit more, “I was thinking...about after Zarkon. What I’ll do...Defeating him has been my sole focus for so long, I almost don’t know what I’ll do when…”

 

“When he’s gone?” Shiro finished the almost blasphemous sentence for her. His right hand curled into a momentary fist. “I’ve found myself thinking the same thing.”

 

“Truly?” Allura asked, her voice laced with hope. All Shiro could do was nod, rocked as he was by her earnestness. As if a floodgate had been opened Allura started to ramble. “Obviously, I want to end Zarkon, for the good of the galaxy and to avenge my father and Altea but what do I do after that? Outposts will still need to be liberated, it’s not as though Zarkon’s forces will all explode once he’s… but after that? I don’t even know. Wait for someone else to rise and try to take over the universe? Of course by then, you all will have moved on to your normal lives…” she trailed off sadly, looking down at her hands in her lap. 

 

Shiro’s lips parted and he fought the urge to wrap her in his arms. Allura closed her eyes and gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head before she looked up at him again, “What will you do?” 

 

It was a simple question, but questing heat behind her words dug into Shiro. As if she wanted guidance. Or as if she wanted a certain answer from him. Rubbing a hand along the back of his neck, Shiro pondered his answer for a moment, “I’d see the outposts liberated and the paladins settled back into their lives on Ear-”

 

“That’s not what I meant,” Allura interrupted uncharacteristically, holding up a slender hand to pause him, “I meant, what will you do for  _ you _ ?”

 

“For me?” he echoed, almost in confusion.

 

Allura nodded, her lips forming a small line, “For you. You’ve been living your life to fight against Zarkon for so long too. The others… maybe it’s selfish but I feel like they aren’t as close to it as we are.”

 

Shiro couldn’t stop the shiver of pleasure at her use of the word ‘we’. He knew that it was almost childish that he would get such a thrill from her lumping them together, even if it’s in tragedy. A small smile played on his lips, “For me, huh? I haven’t really thought about it, Princess. If I plan out my future too far, I’ll get distracted. And I can’t risk that.”

 

Allura huffed, her brow furrowing, “Shiro, please, indulge me this once.” 

 

A blush bloomed over Shiro’s scar as his mind slipped into dangerous territory at her words. He had never been good saying no to her.  He cleared his throat again, “Of course, Princess,” he observed that she scooted closer, as though wanting to keep his next words a secret between them, “Well, I’d probably sign up for the Garrison again. Assuming the black lion stays with me, I’d need a bigger apartment…” Shiro chuckled at the thought of his lion stuck in the apartment he used to have outside Tokyo. “Or a house…” he rubbed the back of his neck again and casted a glance at Allura. Her attention was rapt, as she leaned her chin on her hands. He blushed again before continuing. “I wouldn’t be able to stay out of space for long,” Shiro’s tone changed to an indulgent wistfulness, “but I guess what I’d work toward would be settling down.”

 

Allura quirked a pale eyebrow at him, “Settle down?” she questions.

 

Shiro smiled at her, still red cheeked. “Marriage, kids, all that.”

 

Her eyes locked with his and again he was caught off guard at the hunger behind them, “Marriage? You want to get married?” She whispered the words and Shiro moved forward to catch them.

 

He shrugged. “It’s always been the end goal. If I find the right...person,” He trailed off, before realizing how close his face was to Allura’s. He pulled back, missing the flash of disappointment in Allura’s eyes. “Don’t you?” He was relieved his voice didn’t come out as a squeak. 

 

Allura gave a sad smile, “Before Zarkon destroyed Altea, I would have had a grand ball on my twenty-fifth birthday. My father would host gentry from every civilized planet,” her eyes glazed over, as her words took on a life of their own, “I would dance with all the suitors before picking a select few to get to know better. Weighing their value to Altea, of course.”

 

It was Shiro’s turn to interject, “What about love?”

 

Allura frowned at him, “Love isn’t a luxury for a Princess. Of course, it would be better if the spark was there too but...Altea would have come first.”

 

Shiro leaned forward, intensity sparked in his eyes, “And now?”

 

Shiro knew that what he was asking would be hard for her. Now that Altea was gone. Now that her father was gone. He felt almost like he shouldn’t have asked, that it was too personal. Still too raw.  

 

Allura’s eyes brimmed with tears, her throat closing around a sob, “Now? Now… I have to worry about procuring an Altean heir. I suppose that hasn’t changed much,” her words became stronger as she talked, duty overriding emotion, “I won’t let my family's bloodline end with me.”

 

Shiro’s brow furrowed, “You didn’t answer my question, Allura.” Shiro said, his use of her name sending warm tendrils of want through her body. She bit her bottom lip again before answering.

 

“I suppose, if I found the right person…” she blushed prettily, ducking her head slightly as she echoed his earlier statement, “And if they were… willing to have an heir… Love would be a wonderful thing.”

 

Shiro’s eyes darted to her lips, plumped from her ministrations, and then back to her eyes. Gently, he lifted his right hand to tuck a strand of white hair behind her ear, “I can’t imagine someone who wouldn’t want to.” The words tumbled out before he thought to rein them in. 

 

Allura leaned slightly into his touch, her eyes searching his. “A princess with no throne, no money, and no home? Not exactly a dowry to lust after.” She paused watching for a reaction.

 

Frowning, Shiro took her cheeks in his hands. The contrast of cold and warm sent shivers down Allura’s spine. “If that’s all they care about, then you found the wrong person.”

 

She parted her lips before her tongue darted out to wet them, “Maybe you’ll have to remind him of my virtues,” she whispered, her eyes glanced down at his lips. 

 

“Maybe I will,” Shiro agreed huskily, before touching his lips to hers. 

 

Allura let out an audible gasp before she melted against him, her arms encircling his neck. She pressed her body flush against his, kissing him back with abandon. Shiro shuddered as relief pulsed warmly through his veins. 

 

Her heady scent wrapped around them both, filling all of Shiro’s senses with her. The sweet taste of her lips on his, the way her tongue darted out asking for entrance. The feel of her body crushed against him, his hands twined in her silky hair. The rumbled noise of her moans against his lips parted. 

 

Allura broke the kiss first, resting her forehead against his until she caught her breath. Shiro opened his eyes, peering down at her. Her eyes were closed and her whole body almost seemed to glow with radiance. Shiro thought she looked like her skin shone with moonglow. 

 

“Takashi…” she whispered his name, and before she could collect herself Shiro was kissing her again. 

 

He ran his tongue against her bottom lip, asking. Allura willingly opened herself to him and laced her hands through his hair, pulling him deeper into her kiss. Something about her saying his given name set off violent fireworks of lust in his veins and he suddenly couldn’t pull her close enough. His hands trailed down from her hair, to her neck, and over her shoulders. He rested them on the small of her back, drawing gentle circles over the fabric of her dress. Nipping at her bottom lip, he pulled away just enough to moan her name. 

 

As Shiro said her name with such breathless heat, Allura could feel herself almost coming undone, but she put a halting pair of hands on his chest. She was suddenly hyper aware of how toned his form was and her mind conjured up images of what he would look like naked. She’d seen him without a shirt on before; when he was training with the other paladins- she remembered the crisscross network of scars covering his torso. She wondered what it would be like to kiss them, follow their trail down his body…

 

“Allura?” Shiro asked with concern, he watched as she shook herself out of her respite. 

 

She bestowed a dazzling smile on him, eyes still alight with smoldering passion. 

 

Shiro held her in his arms, wondering if he should apologize for being so forward with her, “Princess, I…”

 

Allura placed a finger over his mouth, “Let’s not go back to that,” she whispered, her lips ghosted over his, “Takashi…” she moaned, before pulling away again. Her eyes flickered with a mix of arousal and hesitation. “We need to...think about Zarkon before…”

 

A feeling of dread settled into Shiro’s skin, violently quenching his ardor for the woman who was still in the circle of his arms. 

 

It would be so easy, so  _ incredibly _ easy to lose himself in Allura. He could sink into the warmth she possessed and spend countless hours tracing constellations on her skin. He could make her cry out his name, beg for him like a prayer.

 

But Zarkon…

 

That galactic cock-block took priority over Shiro’s heated blood and Allura’s equaled fervor. He knew that. She knew that.

 

He slipped his arms from her hips, missing her warmth almost instantly. Allura shivered, crossing her arms over her breasts- from cold or suppressed desire Shiro didn’t know. “....I…” she started, uncharacteristically tongue-tied. “Not to say I didn’t-”

 

“-we just have responsibilities,” Shiro finished for her again. He took the words she didn’t want to say and said  them for her even if they tasted like ashes on his tongue. She nodded, parting her lips gently. “We can’t afford distractions.”

 

“Agreed,” Allura murmured, fixing her skirts, “No time for distractions.” 

 

She moved to get up from the couch and Shiro’s hand snaked out to grab her wrist. Allura froze in mid-step, a small hitch of breath escaped her lips. “Takashi?” came her asking whisper. 

 

Shiro stood up to his full height before he pulled Allura to his chest, molding her to him. She didn’t fight him but looked up into his eyes with anticipation. He let himself twine her hair in his hands, breathing in the scent of her before he whispered, “Good night, Allura.” 

 

With that he released her and turned for his room. Allura was left in the common area, blinking after him and tingling with the sensation of his hands. 

 


End file.
